The Wright Brothers

The Wright Brothers

Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright developed what is considered to be the first working airplane. On December 17, 1903, they made the first controlled, heavier-than-air human flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Fast Facts:

Neither brother had a high school diploma
Shared mutual credit for their invention
First brother to pilot the craft determined by a coin flip
May 25, 1910: Only flight taken by both brothers

Orville Wright

Born: August 19, 1871
Place of birth: Dayton, Ohio
Spouse: None
Final Flight: 1918
Died: January 30, 1948

Wilbur Wright

Born: April 16, 1867
Place of birth: Millville, Indiana
Spouse: None
Died: May 30, 1912
After his death Milton Wright wrote about his son:

- "A short life, full of consequences. An unfailing intellect, imperturbable temper, great self-reliance and as great modesty, seeing the right clearly, pursuing it steadfastly, he lived and died."

Timeline

1878: Build their first rubber-band powered helicopter
1893: Start bicycle repair busines
1899: Wilbur develops three-way control system
1903: First controlled sustained powered flight
1906: Grated U.S. Patent for airplane control system
1908: Demonstrate 2-passenger plane
1909: Begin manufacturing and selling planes
1912: Wilbur dies of Typhoid Fever
1915: Orville sells airplane company for $1.5 million
1943: Smithsonian Institute recognizes the Wright Brothers as the first to achieve a controlled sustained powered flight.
1948: Orville dies of a heart attack

Categories

History | Inventors

| View Note History

The Mahalo Top 7

Wikipedia: Wright Brothers
First-To-Fly.com: Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company and Virtual Museum...
National Park Service: Wright Brothers National Memorial
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Wright Brothers
About.com: The Wright Brothers - First Flight
PBS: NOVA: Wright Brothers' Flying Machine
Flights of Inspiration: First Flight

The Wright Brothers Background and Profiles

The Henry Ford Museum: Wright Brothers profile
Wright Brothers National Memorial: Wright Brothers profile
Time.com: Time 100: The Wright Brothers
Wilbur Wright Birthplace: History
WrightStories.com: The Wright Brothers: Personal Remembrances
Failure Magazine: "Residscover the Remarkable Achievements of the Wright Brothers"

The Wright Brothers Images

Google Images: Wright Brothers
Ohio Link Digital Media Center: Wright Brothers Image Collection
Clusty.com: Wright Brothers Images
Live Search Images: Wright Brothers Images
Old-Picture.com: Wright Brothers Gallery

The Wright Brothers Videos

YouTube: Early Wright Brothers flight (Time: 0:32)
YouTube and Google Video: Wright Brothers
History.com: Great American History Quiz: Wright Brothers (2:22)
Mississippi State University: Photographs and Movies about the Invention of the Airplane
YouTube: GE "Wright Brothers" ad (Time: 1:00)

Wright Brothers Books and Research

NASA.gov: Models of the Wright Brothers' Aircraft
Library of Congress: The Wilbur and Orville Wright Papers
Wright State University: Following the Footsteps of The Wright Brothers
Amazon.com: Wright Brothers Books
Aero-Web.org: "How We Made The First Flight" by Orville Wright
WrightStories.com: Celebrating the Success of the Wright Brothers & The Invention of the Airplane

Wright Brothers Timeline

April 16, 1867: Wilbur Wright born outside of New Castle, Indiana
August 19, 1871: Orvile Wright born in Dayton, Ohio
1892: Brothers open bicycle business in Dayton, Ohio
1900: Brothers begin first field experiments in Kitty Hawk, NC
December 17, 1903: First Flight
May 22, 1906: Wright patent No. 821,393 granted
September 17, 1908: First airplane fatality
May 25, 1910: Wilbur and Orville make first and only flight together
May 30, 1912: Wilbur dies at the age of 45 from typhoid fever
May 13, 1918: Orville makes his final flight as a pilot
January 30, 1948: Orville dies at the age of 77 from a heart attack

Wright Brothers Satire and Humor

The Humor of Melvin Durai: "A Century of Traveling Wright"
Finger To The Wind: "The Rong Brothers Take Off"
YouTube: Sherif Hedayat: Why The Wright Brothers Invented Flight (Time: 0:31)

Related Pages on Mahalo

History of Flight | Aerodynamics | Airplanes

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